Dr. Ruth Gruber

Yesterday, as Thanksgiving break allows, I spent some quality time with my mom and dad.  We went to the the movies in Highland Park, where we spent $11 on popcorn and a drink, by the way, and saw the documentary Ahead of Time.  It chronicled the life of Ruth Gruber, a journalist now in her late nineties.

Click HERE to see the trailer.

Her life is well passed blog worthy.  Everyone should hear her story-- she was born in 1911 and is ninety-nine years old.  She became the youngest doctorate in the entire world while studying in Cologne, Germany at the age of twenty.  She married at the age of forty and had two children.  In her lifetime, to be specific:

She journeyed to the Soviet Arctic in 1935 while reporting for The New York Herald Tribune; was a special assistant to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes during World War II; escorted 1,000 Jewish refugees to Oswego, N.Y., during the war; covered the Nuremberg war-crimes trials; and accompanied the globe-trotting Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry as it examined the question of Jewish refugees and Palestine. 

                 -John Anderson, New York Times 9-2-10 

Dr. Gruber inspires me as a Jew, as a woman, and as a human.  Women of her day mainly held "pink collar" jobs (ie: teacher, secretary, nanny).  She did not follow the obvious career path; instead she pursued a passion.  That pursuit, whether or not coincidentally, led her to become one of the most powerful journalists in the country.  As a Jew, she took special interest in the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel.  Here in America, even, odds were not in Jews' favor.  Especially during the Depression, Jews were shunned from the market place and anti-semitism.  The rise of Hitler did not just affect Europeans; he instilled fear world wide (Center for Jewish History).  Keeping all of this in mind, excelling in a anti-semitic, patriarchal society was even more of an accomplishment.  If for nothing else, I admire Ruth Gruber for her courage to even enter such a work force.

Her impact is long lasting, her story not known well enough.  I encourage everyone to see the documentary that tells even just twenty years of her story.  She truly changed my opinion of what power is.  Whether for her selfless aid to Holocaust survivors, her advancements in the field of journalism, the friendships she maintained, or her sense of humor evident in her film, Dr. Ruth Grubin deserves another ninety-nine years.

Ruth in Alaska, 1941.  Click HERE for more pictures of Dr. Gruber in front of and behind the camera.

Gobble Gobble

As we think about perilous times in class, it becomes more and more evident that the non perilous times are ones to cherish.  With Thanksgiving approaching, I find it appropriate to reflect on what we as Americans are actually celebrating.

On a selfish note, I am looking forward to three days off from school!  Before 1941, students did not enjoy the same luxury.  Thanksgiving became a national holiday after a 40 year campaign spearheaded by Sarah Josepha Hale led to congress' approval of the proposal.  Thank you Sarah!  (See Thanksgiving in its many "editions" here)

No matter how much I love sleeping in, I cannot put anything above family.  I hope that everyone enjoys their holiday with a table filled with mashed potatoes and surronded by the ones they love.  Happy Holidays!

War, war, go away. Come again another day...

Like the weather, violence is an unpredictable constant.  The world went through a "golden age" without war many years ago, but I doubt the people declared Golden knew what was happening in North, South, and Central America.  I cannot believe that we have ever enjoyed World Peace.  Like rain, it stops and starts, and no one really likes getting caught in it.
I looked up the origin of the song "Rain, Rain, Go Away" and found its roots were in none other than: that's right, war.  (Click HERE for lyrics and origin).  I did a little experiment about war's prevelance in our culture.  I Googled "War" and I Googled "Peace."  "War" had 957,000,000 matches, and "peace" had 267,000,000 matches.  That's about 700,000,000 more articles about war.  My conclusion- there's too much of it.

Another interesting thought:
Forbe's Most Dangerous City: Detroit, Michigan
Detroit High School Graduation Rate: 21.7% ****

Forbe's Safest City: Plano, Texas (suburb of Dallas)
Dallas Graduation Rate: 81.3%

Any correlation?  I think so.  One way to counter violence in our society is to educate ourselves.  We can overcome adversity.  Violence in our cities IS war, whether it is in text books or not.  Guns, knives, bombs, what have you, is all human hurting human.  War looms over us like a rain cloud.  Let's hope for sunny skies soon.

****This scares me!

Who's the Boss?

 If someone acted like a queen, they would be treated better than someone that acted like a lowly high schooler.  The Stanford Prison Experiment expanded this very topic.  A basic synopsis: People of equal status were divided into "greater than" and "less than," but only treated as such for a few days.  

If someone is treated inhumanely, they will believe they are inhuman and act in part.  If someone is treated well, they will believe they're pretty darn impressive. "Prisoners" took to numbers rather than names, and "Guards" became disciplinarians; they were not guarding anything but their own power.  Surprisingly, the prisoners obeyed their "masters" on the very first day, well knowing they are not actually in prison. 

Psychology proved stronger than logic.  The men were equals with the exception of a week or so of different treatment.  The guards went so far as to make the prisoners wash toilets with their bare hands.  The prisoners obeyed. 

In another case, one we can identify with, affects our society everyday.  Apparently, (click HERE to read article from CNN) attractive people are more highly compensated than their homely peers.  Looks do not impact one's abilities, but since one group is dubbed "better," they are treated as such.  In some societies, being male is superior to being female.  Regardless of actual personalities, the males will be treated better.

Whose to say teachers are so much better than students?  They get desks and department secretaries, while we get a 1'x4' metal box and a number.  (ID number=Prison number? hmm...) 

Who gets the job?  Mr. Fancy or Mr. Regular?**

**They're the same guy!! The King of Spain**

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Stanley Forman was born in 1945.  Since then, public schools were integrated, American engaged in the Vietnam, Korean, Gulf, Afghani, and Iraq wars.  We have seen the first Black president elected to office, we have mourned the loss of pop sensation Michael Jackson, and we have withstood natural and manmade disasters.  Change is a constant.

As many artists do, Mr. Forman commented on political happenings through his work: photography.  His photography has earned him two Pulitzer Prizes and has enriched America's art scene.  Photographs allow time to stand still; Forman has successfully managed to not only capture a time, but a feeling.

In his photograph "Soiling Old Glory," Forman captured these scenes: 

• America's bussing policy, in which black and white students are taken on busses out of their neighborhoods to attend different schools.  This policy came into effect after "Seperate but Equal" was ruled unconstututional.  Public schools were required to integrate, even if it involved making students attend school far away from their homes, to meet racial quotas.
• Intolerance.  In 1976, when "Soiling Old Glory" was taken, racial tension was high.  The Civil Rights Act of 1965, enacted under President Linden Johnson, was still in its implimentation stage.  (Please refer to page 64 of this report to see how prevelent Civil Rights issues were in American Government)

Forman successfully captured a history and emotion in his picture.  I have not come across a photo so thought provoking as this one in a long time.  All things considered, I am only a teenager, but my teenage mind can still appreciate great art.  It was recognized as such in 1977, when "Soiling Old Glory" won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography. 

My rEflection

Change: nickels and pennies, spring to summer, childhood to adulthood, blog post to blog post.  The latter is newly added to my definition of "change."  Despite its late addition, changes in blog posts prove just as relevant as the veteran definitions.

The topics of my posts share a common theme: me.  It may seem conceded, but what better can an author comment on more truthfully than themselves?  My passion for the subjects I write on, I hope, shows.  My post with the most comments, Shana Tova, connects to my religious freedom.  It allowed me to transition to a national news story; blogging makes clear to me my own connectedness to the larger world.  "A Different Kind of Lashes,"* my favorite and most recent post, shares some personal information.  However, I do not feel violated because my issues connect with those of other people, as depicted in America the Beautiful.  To quote:

People feel compelled to alter themselves to achieve a conjured "perfect."  I myself am guilty of this.  I consider myself a "slave" to the beauty industry.

This post allows me to connect further with Frederick Douglass, as at times we both feel trapped and hindered.  Blogging, whether for leisure or work, does not connect people directly.  Blogging allows authors to realize their similarities with and differences from the world around them.  Readers may feel the same or different, or even feel a connection to the author.

School, in theory, prepares students for the life they will face in the coming years.  People will face just that: people.  Just because I, for example, did not suffer directly in result to threats of Koran burnings, does not mean I am not involved.  Blogging has allowed me to self-reflect with lose structure, so that I can recognize that the world is separated not by oceans but by closed minds.  I may not be able to change other people right away, but I can open my own mind and get be one person closer to global understanding.

*http://americanstudies89.blogspot.com/2010/10/different-kind-of-lashes.html

A Different Kind of "Lashes"

In class, we have been reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a short book written by a former slave and published in 1845.  It depicts the hardships of back breaking labor and heart breaking attitudes of Maryland plantations.  He tells of how he and his mother knew not much of one another, of the lashes he received, and the hope to overcome oppression.

In another class, the Fit Female, we watched a documentary that seems to parallel slavery in a (less severe way).  The slaves depicted in "Freddie D" suffer through hardships unimaginable by America's standards today.  In America The Beautiful, of which I watched the first half in the Fit Female, director Darryl Roberts brings to light America's obsession with beauty.  In a way, we are slaves to mirrors. 

Gerren Taylor, who wants to become a supermodel, is documented.  She is almost six feet tall, has smooth skin, is very thin, plyable hair, and a fresh face.  She can be found on runways in LA, magazines across the country, all that model stuff.  When the documentary was made and recording her "teen dream" job, she was 12 YEARS OLD.  I was taken aback when I found out she was so young; my first impression was that she was in her early twenties and finding her way in the fashion industry.  Yes, she was finding her way in the fashion industry, but only when her spelling tests allowed?  I guess it seems normal to her, but to the average viewer it is quite surprising.  Mr. Roberts made a clear point: America rewards beauty to an almost gross extent.

We all are familiar with the extent people go to look a certain way; Americans spend $40 billion a year on diet and weight loss products.  On cosmetics: $7 billion a year.  According to the YWCA, almost 10 million Americans suffer from eating disorders.  People feel compelled to alter themselves to achieve a conjured "perfect."  I myself am guilty of this.  I consider myself a "slave" to the beauty industry.

I do not go to a book store without first looking at the fashion magazines.  Hours of my life have been spent watching America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, even Jersey Shore promotes a corrolation between GTL (gym-tan-laundry) and attracting the opposite sex.  Oh, yeah!  Sex!  That's a whole different topic...

My firend once told me she spends $60 on her foundation; "I'm fat" is no uncommon phrase; celebrities endorse thinness by being thin, wearing clothes only thin people can wear, and endorsing weight loss products.  Heidi Klum eats Light'N'Fit yogurt, Kim Kardashian uses QuickTrim weight loss supplements. 

It is a sad reality that we, as a country, are obsessed with exterior beauty.  Is it slavery?  I think so, in a way.  We go to painful extremes, some people dedicate their livlihoods to it (models, actors, advertisers); perfection has become a master.  I hope we can all be free soon.